Ukraine considering production of biofuel from fodder potato crop
01 May 2011
Interfax. The Ukraine is considering using part of its crop of fodder potatoes—i.e., potatoes used for animal feed—for the production of biofuel. The Ukraine is one of the top potato producers in the world, ranking fourth in volume in 2008 (behind China, India and Russia), but only sixth in terms of the value of the commodity, according to the FAO.
“We are studying the possibility of using … part [of the crop] for [the production of] biofuel,” Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk told Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov during a visit to the Institute of Potato Growing of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv region on April 27.
According to Prysiazhniuk, conclusions on the issue could be reached in two or three months after the institute studies the issue.
In a former communist country like that (that isn't really democratic yet), "considering" to use potatoes as biofuel is all they will be doing.
Posted by: ejj | 01 May 2011 at 07:24 AM
It makes excellent Vodka!
Posted by: HarveyD | 01 May 2011 at 10:27 AM
potatoes used for animal feed
That is a zero sum game, they have to find a substitute for animal fodder or raise fewer animals.
Posted by: SJC | 01 May 2011 at 10:46 AM
this is a ridiculous idea, exactly the wrong path to biofuel. But no worry the un-economic side of the all process will kill it by itself before long
Posted by: Treehugger | 01 May 2011 at 11:20 AM
Yeah, it kind of gives biofuels a bad name, but I guess when you grow lots of potatoes you try to find a use for them.
It is like the U.S. agriculture department in the 70s, they told farmers to grow as much corn as they could and we would find a use for it. Hence ethanol, corn syrup in soft drinks and just about every other processed food we find on supermarket shelves.
Posted by: SJC | 01 May 2011 at 01:58 PM
@ SJC
The Agriculture Departmnet also paid or forced dairy farmers to kill off cows to raise the price of milk to the consumer.
@ HarveyD
Potatoes also make excellent Schnapps. That's why this is definitely a Schnapps Idea.
Posted by: Mannstein | 01 May 2011 at 07:14 PM